The UMSOM's Institute of Genomic Sciences Receives $ 17.5 Million for Infectious Disease Research

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has awarded $ 17.5 million to the Institute of Genomic Sciences (IGS) of the University of Maryland's Faculty of Medicine (UMSOM) to fund another five centers years.

The principal investigator and chief administrative director of the grant, titled "Genomics-based Investigation into the Determinants of Polymicrobial Infectious Diseases", is David Rasko, PhD, professor of microbiology and immunology and researcher at IGS. . The team's researchers will include: Claire M. Fraser, PhD, Professor of Medicine, Dean's Microbiology and Immunology and Director of the IGS, and Owen R. White, PhD, Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health, Director of Bioinformatics and Associate Director of IGS.,

GCID uses large-scale genomics and bioinformatics approaches to study pathogen biology, virulence, immune fraud, microbe-microbe interactions, and host-microbiome interactions. Scientific research projects focus on the host / microbe interrelations of various bacteria, fungi and parasites. The interdisciplinary team will participate in GCID research, including professors from the world-renowned Institute of Genome Sciences, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, and the UMSOM Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health. and their long-time collaborators.

"The GCID team is at the forefront of applying genomic techniques to advance the scientific understanding of infectious disease agents for 15 years, and the renewal of this grant from NIAID we will allow to deploy more approaches to genomics in the study of host-pathogen-microbiome interactions, "said Dr. Fraser.

The NIAID grant will support research programs focused on three areas. One of the areas of research is to study the interactions of multiple bacteria with each other, as well as the host and the badociated microbiome, under the direction of MM. Rasko, Fraser and Hervé SG Tettelin, PhD, badociate professor of microbiology and immunology and scientist at IGS .. The second area includes research on the genomic and transcriptomic badysis of fungal pathogens interacting with the The host will be led by Vincent M. Bruno, PhD, badociate professor of microbiology and immunology and researcher at IGS. The third area of ​​research includes an integrated genomics research project on tropical parasitic diseases to be led by Julie C. Dunning Hotopp, PhD, badociate professor of microbiology and immunology and IGS researcher David Serre, PhD. Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology. and scientist at IGS; and Joana C. Silva, PhD, badociate professor of microbiology and immunology and researcher at IGS

"This grant allows us to integrate the study of several pathogens into model systems and with human samples in a more representative way of natural infection processes, which will provide a better understanding and a deeper understanding of these interactions, "said Dr. Rasko.

The center also supports a technology core, a data management core, and an administrative core. Projects include whole and targeted genome sequencing, RNA-seq transcriptome profiling, rRNA community profiling, and metagenomic and metatranscriptomic sequencing with emphasis on the interactions of microbes with each other. Host and the resident microbiome. Sequencing will be performed on multiple platforms, including the Illumina MiSeq and HiSeq systems, Oxford Nanopore Technology and Pacific Biosciences.

"The integration of genomics with diagnostic and clinical medicine has advanced our biological understanding of disease and health," said E. Albert Reece, MD, Ph.D., MBA, vice president of business Medical University of Maryland, as well as John Z. and Akiko K. Distinguished Professor Bowers and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Maryland. "This NIAID grant will encourage new multidisciplinary collaborations within the clinical and research centers of the faculty of medicine, as well as with international infectious disease communities."

In addition to research projects, IGS will host workshops and educational initiatives to better understand how to apply genomics to high priority research questions that impact global health.

The IGS has already received grants as the Genomic Center for Infectious Diseases (GCID), a five-year grant funded by NIAID (2014-2019); a Genome Sequencing Center for Infectious Diseases (GSCID); a five-year contract funded by NIAID (2009-2014), and principal investigators also served as principal investigators at the NIAID-funded Microbial Sequencing Center (MSC), a five-year contract (2004-2009). ). This U19 grant bearing the number U19 AI110820 will last five years until 2024, twenty years of cutting-edge research in genomics.